Sustain Capacity
The capacity of the teams delivering a product constrains the rate at which new features can be added and feature improvements delivered. Sustaining capacity relative to demand over time is important because of the high cost of trying to change quickly. The rate of change of capacity is limited by the requirement for teams to adjust to changing membership and for new team members to acquire the ability to deliver.
In A Nutshell
Sustaining capacity refers to both increasing capacity for work to decreasing that capacity.
Increasing Capacity
Capacity demands often increase rapidly early in the product life-cycle. Until we deliver some service to customers we cannot be sure how the product will be accepted and therefore what the rate of delivery needs to be. Teams must plan how they will approach changes in membership, transfer skills to new members and how they will progress to become a high-performing team again.
Significant increases in capacity may require the consideration of how to scale. Rather than expanding an existing team, new teams are formed to collaborate with the existing team in the delivery of the product. Questions of skills transfer and how the teams will work together are critically important when scaling.
Decreasing Capacity
Capacity demands typically decrease as the product matures and approaches the end of its life-cycle. Many customer needs have already been met and remaining customer needs may be of such low value that delivery cannot be justified. Teams must plan how they will manage the reduction in membership, ensuring that the team remains capable of delivering every aspect of the product and its service.
If a scaled approach has been used, the simplest solution may be to reduce the number of teams working on the product. If teams have developed specialities then the plan must account for how this knowledge will be transferred to the remaining teams